What does your toddler typically eat for a meal. My 13 month old DS is a very picky eater -- hates to be fed but can't feed himself very well. He does not like a lot of things I've offered him that are supposed to be good -- tofu, broccoli, eggs, etc. which he usually won't eat at all; what he does eat he has a tendency to hold in his mouth and then spit it out. What does everyone else do?

ETA: Also, he tested as having low hemoglobin (9.1) at his 12 month well baby visit, and he is fussy and clingy and shy, which could be just his temperament or teething or a developmental thing, or he could be anemic. He also often has dark circles under his eyes and sometimes bags, too, which I understand can be a sign of food intolerances. I have been cutting way back on dairy and soy, just in case, hope not to have to cut anything else out.

I haven't found a way to get him to eat all veggies or fruits. I offer healthy stuff and hope that he eats it. I do hide food in other foods sometimes, like shredded carrots in mashed potatoes or chopped spinach sprinkled on top of pasta, pureed veggies in soup or muffins, etc. At 13 months, it's perfectly normal to be a picky eater. Maybe it's a texture thing and he would rather have smoother textures. Or maybe he just wants some more time until he eats regularly.

Finding food that ds likes is a challenge, too. He loves baby corn, so we have that for him often. Pad Thai with baby corn is a big favorite.

Blueberry bagels are our breakfast food of choice right now. I toast them and put a little bit of All Fruit on.

For lunch, he likes grilled cheese (I fix it on whole grain/nut bread). And pickles. He asks for dill pickles with just about every meal. He also likes mini pizzas. Today we ate Annie's Shells and Cheese.

Pasta is our usual standby. Shells with tomato sauce and parmesan cheese are his favorite. Usually ds will try some of what we fix for supper. Grilled salmon is a huge hit! We ate a lot of it before we found out about the scary mercury.

if dd ate half of what your ds eats, i would fall over from shock! She isn't even really a picky eater (hates meat and milk, but that's it) it's just that she'll eat 2 or 3 mini-bites of something and be done. it's driving me a little crazy! the doctor is worried about weight gain, and I'm starting to think happy meals maybe aren't so evil and we ought to give them a try!:

Right now, I can sneak good things like tofu and veggies into smoothies and she does alright with those, but food is a daily worry for me. thank goodness she still nurses!

My toddler is pickier than his sister was at this age, but not so bad.

He likes a lot of veggies. Broccoli is a big hit around here, but also carrots (raw or cooked), peas, sugar snap peas (he spits out the strings), corn kernals and thinly sliced red bell peppers. He LOVES cucumbers. He has, on more than one occasion, eaten an entire one by himself. I peel it and he won't even wait for me to slice it, just grabs it and walks around the house biting it like an apple

For fruit, he likes sliced apples with the peel cut off (or else he'll take a bite, chew and spit out the peel on the floor : ) Grapes are a bit hit, as is pineapple, watermelon (not in season right now though), orange slices, strawberries, bananas, blueberries (fresh or frozen) and raspberries. He didn't like blackberries. He goes ape over cantaloupe and will eat almost a half of one at one sitting (between him and his sister, I don't get a lot!).

He loves pasta. We buy Bionature (sp?) brand whole wheat pasta. I usually just toss it with some olive oil and he chows down. He likes Vermont Bread brand whole wheat bread plain or toasted. Right now we have the oat bran and the sesame varities and he likes both. He likes bagels a lot. I try to get some that are partially whole wheat.

He likes string cheese.

We just drink water most of the time, but he likes orange juice when I offer it. We don't drink milk so that's not an issue.

Beans! Especially garbanzo and kidney. Both are great for finger foods.

He will eat any dried fruit, but it comes right out the other end (sometimes with explosive results!) and is bad for teeth, so we don't have it a lot.

And recently I realized he likes cashews.

And he has never turned down any junk food or cookie, but I don't think that's what you're asking about :

Quote:

Originally posted by meagenthe doctor is worried about weight gain, and I'm starting to think happy meals maybe aren't so evil and we ought to give them a try!:

I'm assuming you are joking but just in case you aren't I'll say - don't fall into that trap!

Man, if my son ate even a quarter of what y'all's kids ate...I'd be in heaven! If he can't feed it to himself, he WON'T eat it. He's 17 mos old & very willful. I cannot get a spoon of food near his mouth - he does this Shaolin kung-fu move with his hands/arms & turns his head around so it effectively blocks *any* food from reaching his mouth.

.....sigh....he's healthy, smart, & very active. I wish he'd eat more 'cos I'm so incredibly worried that he's not getting enough nutrition. We always offer him what we're eating & I always have something that I thought he liked. I know it's my job to provide the food for him & it's up to him to eat it, but...he's not holding up his end of the deal! : Does it get any better?

Yeah, but sometimes it gets worse : My five year old is now sort of picky when she would eat almost anything as a toddler Some of the things she really liked as a toddler (like cucumbers) she now declares gross :

As long as he's "healthy, smart & very active" then don't worry, it will even out Just keep offering him a wide variety of healthy foods. Buy him a multi vitamin if you are really worried But then, that's what extended nursing is great for

My guy eats just about anything, but not in large quantities (usually the dog gets most of it! :LOL ) I can always count on him eating raisins and grapes. He likes crackers too, like goldfish. I don't really go out of my way to fix him anything special--he just eats what we do, but I always include a fruit and veggie and either egg, meat or cheese. I try not to serve many noodles or breads, as I've cut them out of my diet and for the most part the rest of my family's diet as well.

I try to give him the liquid multivitamin... he hates that, too. I just keep offering him healthy foods... I swear this kid knows if there's an atom of protein or veggie in something. : It's hard to look at it in the long-term, though I know that's what I need to do. Ah well...

At that age, Jenny would eat a few bites of grits or oatmeal for breakfast, after a really long nursing session. I usually put some sort of fruit in her hot cereal. She always preferred something with texture to pureed baby mush.
She liked finger foods, like cheerios, that she could feed herself.

For the most part, I've always just offered her some of whatever I was/am eating at the time. I might have to cut it into smaller bites, or mush it with a fork (before she had molars) first. Sometimes she wants to feed herself and sometimes she wants to be fed (still, at almost three years old). A serving for her ranges from 1/3 to twice what I would eat, depending on the food in question.

I caused some problems by offering her other choices to eat when she didn't want what I had prepared. It was hard not to, with the ped always giving me guilt about her size, but I've come to the realization that she's petite and nothing I do will change that. I mean, I knew that all along, but the idea that I should be doing something differently to get her to eat more was always in the back of my mind.

The foods she flat-out never eats are the same ones that seem to cause problems when they are ingredients in other foods, so you might do well to pay attention to his pickiness.

DD will eat about 3 bowls of cereal with bananas or strawberries cut up on top for breakfast.

1/2 apple juice + 1/2 water in 10oz cup

snacks include goldfish, raisins, and cheerios

lunch could be either PB&J or yogurt

Then thats it. Food intake ends right there. No dinner, she will drink all of her milk and not touch any of the food that is served to her. I don't believe in catering. You eat what the rest of the family eats or you don't eat. She will eat if we have "breakfast" for dinner. But anything else she totally refuses.

Originally posted by ShannonCC
And he has never turned down any junk food or cookie, but I don't think that's what you're asking about :

Actually, my ds turns down cookies (the natural kind), so I think he's extra picky. He does like crackers some of the time. He likes steamed beets, corn, peas, carrots, and sometimes green beans. But not big on eating in the AM. Mostly at dinner.

My DD is also 13 months and insists on feeding herself. The only thing she'll let us feed her is yogurt.

She's a good eater, but only if she's really hungry, if she's not ready to eat, she won't touch a thing and will throw most of it on the floor to the dog. Unfortunately from day to day what time she's hungry seems to vary, so it's hit or miss and sometimes we have lunch twice :. She may only eat one bite (if that) or all of the following...

I have one word for you: BANANA. In fact, it was baby's 3rd word after mama and dada. Now whenever I feed him something he doesn't want he chants, "nanananana" which I believe is 14-month-ese for "hand over the bananas, mom, and no one gets hurt". :LOL

If I am out of bananas, I do sweet potatoes. These are the world's easiest food: bake a whole bunch when you have the oven on anyway then refrigerate in skin. When baby is hungry and picky, press out of the skin and moosh with a fork and there you go. They last about 2 weeks in the back of the fridge.

Also, I can mix cottage cheese or pureed tofu with both of these and baby will eat them. Used to be able to do yogurt, but he has decided he doesn't like that any more. :

These two items, besides being well-liked by most bambinos, are high in good things like vitamin A and potassium which should help with the anemia problem.

What does your nd think about sprouted wheat bread? We've totally switched to sprouted bread and bagels. The nasty stuff in wheat is partially broken down by the sprouting process and there is virtually no flour. The bread is very dense, but still good.

My 13 mo. old would eat nothing if I tried to feed her, but will eat virtually anything that I put on her tray if she can feed herself. She only has 6 teeth though, so everything has to be cut into fairly small pieces. She basically eats whatever we are eating, only diced. She makes a complete mess, but she eats and is happy. Warning, we are less concerned with "health food" than some here, and are carnivores. So, some of the more common options are:

B'fast: Cereal (dry cheerios, kix, crispex), bagel (in strips, with cream cheese), waffle/pancake, scambled egg. Any of the above may be with yogurt (she uses a spoon or her fingers) or applesauce (ditto). Or smoothies, loves those smoothies, especially if they are an awful color to get out of her clothes.

She will eat most fruits, diced or sliced as necessary. Veggies still need to be cooked but once cooked and diced will eat most of what we have tried. Especially fond of peas and diced artichoke hearts.

Basically, if my pickier 4 YO will eat it, so will she.

If we are out and its hard to get fruits and veggies, I will add a jar of the diced fruit "graduates" from gerber or other fruit cocktail sort of thing because I can't figure out how to keep fresh fruit looking nice and cut it easily in "on the go" situations.

Remember that it may take several tries of putting a food out for her to try before she tries it and goes back for more. Just keep trying! Also, a few bites is a young toddler serving, but it doesn't look like "enough" to us.

What does your nd think about sprouted wheat bread? We've totally switched to sprouted bread and bagels. The nasty stuff in wheat is partially broken down by the sprouting process and there is virtually no flour.

I am assuming that she would say it would be ok. Anything sprouted is going to be super nutritious and she really emphasized the whole grains.

DD's doc was concerned about her health because she was allergic to milk and eggs and we are vegetarian plus dd was low on the growth charts. She has always had a huge appetite so I was not really worried. But the doc sent us to a dietition anyways.

She emphasized that I should let her graze all day. Which is what I did. I let her eat anything she was hungry for, just to make her gain weight (as we all know carbohydrates cause weight gain). Well that included way to much wheat. And I was really concerned that dd was not eating her veggies and even fruit was not her favorite.

The first few days of our wheat free diet, she cried for crackers (her favorite), but now she has totally forgot about them. I cook healthier, feed her whole foods, and the only processed foods she eats is organic spelt bread.

I just want to add that dd has had health problems for four months, most related to diet (even though I am health concious and don't have a lot of junk food in the house). I believe that her body was acidic (causing acidosis in the body), therefore allowing bacteria, yeasts and parasites to thrive. Veggies and fruits are alkaline and nuetralize the acid and therefore decreasing the amounts of bacteria and yeasts (We are on a homeopathic parasite cleanse to get rid of parasites).

Acidosis causes a lot of illnesses in the body. And we have experienced them. And I have also experienced a great turn around in dd's appetite and the foods she eats. Its all for the better. Toddlers will not starve themselves even though parents may think so. It is our diets (and the foods we keep in the house) that make them crave sugar and carbohydrates. If all we offer are healthy alternatives they will eat them.

Forgot to mention that my ds will not sit in his high chair anymore -- only stands in it -- and we don't have a table to sit at (it's used by the computer right now), so feeding him is kinda tricky. Do I just hope that he starts to sit still again, or what?

Unfortunately I may not be much help. Anna went from a bottle (I work PT) straight to a cup and straw -- mostly missing the sippy cup stage. I do dilute her smoothies with a little more juice after pouring it though, and I bet you could get it thin enough to use a sippy with. We use the "disposable" (though we don't dispose of them) straw cups. They look the like the sippy ones but come with a straw instead. They have a pretty tight hole for the straw so are spill-resistant. I still never give her a smoothy if I have changed from PJs to her day clothes though, because I always know that some of it will spill. She's also learning to drink from a regular cup, but I'm not such a gluton for punishment that I would use if for smoothies yet! They are good nutrition, but bad for the laundry.

I'm always so glad to hear that I'm not the only non-vegan-homegrown-totally-organic foody here. I like what we eat, we do better than many families (I love So. CA farmers markets!), but I'm not sure I'm ready to give up Dt. Coke, fast food convenience, or the occassional chip. And I like my steaks, thank you. (OK, all the rest of you, flame away).